“By this, both men had families, and children of their own, who shared, to an extent, their strange and transcendent powers. Oga’s first born was a boy named Wizard, and his second was a girl named Witch. They each had quite a few children. Oga’s children were all magicians, but none had achieved the level of sorcery he wielded. Kizer had only sons – each of them had the power to control one element of nature.
“After decades of searching, of experimentation, of trial and error, the creation was successful. The magicians and elementalists created, with all the zarium they had found, two identical vessels which they predicted could capture and seal away dark energy, which was the very essence of the beings that oppressed them.
“Decades more passed, and the sorcerers and elementalists continued to train diligently in secret, until they were confident that their abilities would be enough to make their plan a reality. They sought out men who they trusted, men who used to be dragon hunters, and they soon had a small army on their side. Somehow, these super-humans found a way to isolate the weakest of the dragons from the rest, and with high level magical energy, known today as sixth, seventh and eighth grade mana, skilled elementalism, and experienced and well-equipped dragon hunters, they battled it fiercely.
“The dragon killed many with its famed black fire, but the sorcerers and elementalists had overwhelmed it. The dark spirit came out of the weakened dragon through its eyes. The shadowy spirit tried to reach the others for help, but Oga and Kizer had planned for this! The zarium eggs were brandished and activated. The ones fighting the dragon closed their eyes, so the spirit could not escape the vessels by possessing one of them. There was a loud, earth-quaking roar as the spirit was ripped apart and the two halves pulled into the two vessels.
“Other versions of the event tell that the dragon was first captured and caged in a prison of steel, with bars coated with zarium, then the spirit was extracted and trapped into the vessels, probably even years afterward.”
Lex’s mind vividly flashed back to the dream he had had just before. He pondered of the strangeness of dreaming within his dream, and he became even more uncertain of where the line between dream and reality was.
“The differences of the versions of this story are irrelevant, as the critical points remain constant. The other six spirits, frightened at the defeat of their brother, became suddenly wary of the humans, and wondered what new power they had found. Not wanting to risk being destroyed as well, the six fled the earth.”
Lex hardly blinked, sitting in complete absorption and captivation into Ben’s story. He was still staring into the depths of his mind, imagining everything plainly.
“Unfortunately, the story doesn’t quite end there,” the old man proceeded. “It is written that these spirits of darkness had the power to fuse and separate amongst themselves at will. The remainder of the tale was revealed by unseen forces to oracles of that time, including the legendary heroes, Oga and Kizer, later known as the true gods. A conflict came about amongst these six beings. Three of the six decided to change the course of their existence because of what had happened on earth, and return to their world, where they could live eternally in peace.
“The other three thought of this idea as nonsensical; they preferred power to a boring, peaceful existence. After great deliberation, it became evident that there would be no agreement between the two groups. The three spirits, which were hell-bent on destroying life forces to gain more power, fused themselves in an effort to destroy the other three, who would no longer be their companions. These three spirits are known as Trium. The three ‘good’ spirits, in order to defend against their attackers, combined and formed Trinity.
“After centuries of constant battle, which was little time for these spirits, Trinity finally lost. It is a mystery as to how Trinity was defeated, as these beings were exact equals, as measured by Oga while they ruled the earth. It is said that the cosmic explosion released so much dark energy, that though the battle took place far beyond our skies, its effect can be seen from earth. The dark matter cooled in outer space, and formed a massive rock, now known to be our moon.
“It has been long prophesied that in this present age, Trium will return to earth on a mission led by hatred and vengeance. Trium wills to punish the earth for capturing their brother, and for corrupting the minds of the other three spirits, which led to the battle, and to their destruction. Also, it is prophesied that the seventh spirit, the one that the great elementalists and sorcerers captured and sealed away in their day, will finally be released unto a man, who will battle Trium when he returns. He is the only hope of this world.”
There was a lengthy moment of silence and contemplation. Even Kyle and Clover, who were told this old story so many times were still captivated by it.
“So…” Lex finally broke the silence nervously. “What does all this have to do with me, really?”
“My perfectly accurate prophetic studies, and my never-failing intuition deems you that hero, who will use the seventh spirit to battle Trium… The child of destiny is prophesied to appear in this world on this very day from another dimension of this world…”
“Child of destiny? Another dimension?” Just remembering his logical reasoning that he was still in a strange dream, Lex suddenly began laughing at himself for pondering such foolishness. Clover and Kyle eyed each other, then their grandfather, a trace of worry on their faces.
“I do not expect you to accept all of this right away,” Ben told Lex, settling his laughter, “but you will come to grips with your new reality in time.”
“How’d I even end up here?! Look, you’ve got the wrong guy, old man!” Lex blasted, suddenly sounding annoyed and nervous.
“I don’t know why you were the one destiny chose to fulfil this mission, but--”
“Why can’t you understand that I’m drea--” Lex’s belly made a loud, horrible noise, making Clover giggle. Old man Ben laughed wildly, restoring his look of craziness.
“Stay here, Lex, I’ll handle that!” the old man asserted, rising from the table quickly.
The three children sat at the table in an awkward silence, exchanging quick, barely visible glances at one another.
“Kid,” Kyle finally said, looking at Lex.
“It’s Lex,” he replied in a touchy tone.
“Whatev’—how old are you?”
Lex wondered for a moment if he should lie. “Eleven… You?”
“Thirteen,” Kyle answered proudly, “and my sis here’s--”
“Almost eleven!” The girl intervened quickly.
“Ten! Don’t rush your age, little girl – you’ll get there!” Lex and Kyle shared a laugh. Clover’s face reddened in embarrassment. She folded her arms and pouted. But even this small misery of hers struck Lex as a perfect beauty.
“Really hope I don’t wake up too soon – got a science test tomorrow and I hardly studied!”
“Huh? Hey, don’t be so brash, kid! You might be some boy in some old prophesy, but don’t go thinking that a man like me could be some random figment of your boyish imagination!” Kyle raved, then hissed at the whole idea of it, loosening his fists a bit, easing back down on the chair.
Clover sighed heavily. “Please, don’t mind him,” she said, her soft, calming voice striking Lex and making him relax almost magically.
“So… Y’all have superpowers?!” Lex asked, a sudden excitement glowing on his face.
“Well,” Kyle said, not sounding like it was a ridiculous question, “I don’t see where this whole ‘Xashi’ thing is going. We’ve been on this stupid training for like… YEARS! And nothing! No power! No magic or fire or anything!” the boy fussed, sounding more annoyed than disappointed. The look on his face changed in an instant. “I’ve been trying my hand at the sword, though.” He made a proud smirk, like he was secretly some kind of sword master. Lex’s eyes lit up instantly.
“You have a sword?! You mean a real sword?! You a samurai?! A ninja?!” Lex interrogated with shiny eyes, standing from his
seat.
“Grandpa says I’m gonna be a witch!” Clover pouted.
“Yeah right! You’ve been trying for what… two and a half years now? No magic up to now!”
Clover’s eyes moistened instantly. She looked down to her lap, trying to hide her tears.
“Come on, Clover, I’m sure you’ll be an awesome witch!” Lex assured, knowing nothing about what he was saying. “Give it some time, you’re only ten!”
“That’s perfectly right!” Ben said, agreed, entering the room with a massive bowl in his hands and a wooden spoon sticking out of it. “You better leave your sister alone, boy,” Ben said with a slight tone of warning, taking his seat at the table. “Clover, soon you’ll be able to turn your brother into a frog!” Clover laughed, forcing a wide smile on Lex’s face. Lex peered over into the bowl. There were four spoons in it – three small, iron spoons, and the large one made of wood that jutted out. Kyle and Clover grabbed two of the spoons. Lex, with only slight hesitation, followed suit. Ben had already drawn the wooden spoon, fearing Lex might have taken it.
Hmmm… Looks edible.
“Siltoon and Cabbage,” Ben introduced, seeing that Lex was a bit curious. “Siltoon is a pretty rare fish that is said to move through the water close to the speed of sound, and cabbage, a--”
“What?! Ha! Please, there’s no way a fish can move that fast. It’d be impossible to catch anyway,” Lex said.
“Ha! Thought you’d fall for the same rubbish like Clover did,” Kyle came in, smiling a little, already digging in. “In time you’ll get to hear all the silly stories grandpa has to tell – even this whole prophecy thing is a bit too kiddish for me to just dive into – dragons and spirits and magic and all this stuff.”
“You still being so thick-headed, boy?!” the old man argued, “You sit here looking at a boy who appeared from another world and you still doubt the prophecy?!”
“Hey, I’m just saying…”
Clover giggled, making Lex realise how fiercely he was attacking the food, which he realized was quite tasty, or maybe so his hunger had tricked him into believing. The three onlookers laughed. Soon Lex joined in the laughter, his spoon still frozen at his mouth.
***
A half-rogue prince sat around the old table in his secret room, flipping eagerly, yet carefully, through the pages of an ancient book with his left hand. A bright red light shone from his right hand, which he held above the book. There was no torch, no fire, just a glow about his hand. Scrolls and maps and extremely rare books were scattered about the table – even many more were shelved all around him. He grabbed a nearby map, making quick glances between the book and the old drawing. A smirk of certainty came upon his face. The smirk escalated into a face of mad excitement, almost comparable to Ben’s.
“To think this treasure is here on this very continent. So close, all these years…” he said to himself.
***
The listeners sat at the edge of their seats as Lex told them of the simple everyday things of his realm. A wide-eyed Ben, feather tightly in his grip, scribbled excitedly about these wondrous things he’d never before heard or thought about, machines on wheels that moved at a hundred miles per hour with no help from horses, small devices that enabled people to communicate over thousands of miles with instantaneity, and small sticks that could write thousands of words without ever being dipped in a jar of ink. To Kyle and Clover, their world was boring compared to Lex’s, but to Lex, this new world he found himself in already seemed like a fairy-tale dreamland, though he didn’t yet know much about it. He was sure that magic was an element of this strange realm, and according to the legends Ben had told him, things he had only seen in cartoons and anime seemed to be possible in this world.
“By the way, I think swords and magic are way cooler than guns and laptops!” Lex said.
“Well, certainly swords are cool, and magic is probably made up to fill gaps of scientific understanding, but imagine moving at a hundred miles an hour!” Kyle ranted excitedly.
“Well, cars really aren’t a bad idea,” Lex conceded. “So old man Ben, tell me more about this Xashi thingy you were—”
“Right!” Ben began, “It was when I was a young man that I developed the art of Xashi.”
Kyle rolled his eyes and sighed, a look of boredom appearing on his face instantly.
“Sounds like a while back,” Lex joked. Kyle and Clover began laughing again.
“Ha! Old age is a glorious thing you know. You youngsters tend to make the mistake of thinking that intelligence can substitute for experience.”
“And you old folk are even better in erring to think that experience can replace intelligence,” Kyle countered.
“Ha! Good comeback, Kyle!” Lex commended. But Clover sighed heavily.
“Hope you’ll become just as crafty with that sword of yours,” Ben said.
“Ha! If only you knew more than breathing techniques and stances, I’d challenge you to a duel!” Kyle boasted proudly.
Ben laughed loudly, holding his belly. “Like I’d need a blade to take you down, little boy.”
“Please, you two!” Clover intervened, “We might have gone way off track here.”
“Right!” Ben remembered. “For many years, Xashi has been laughed at by my companions as a radical theory that could never have real-life implications. According to my hypothesis, a small percentage of the world’s population has supernatural abilities dormant within it, and with the right mental, spiritual and physical techniques, with the Xashi training, anyone with this incredible potential could unlock their power. These powers stemmed down through generations and millennia from the gods of history, Kizer and Oga. Many have acknowledged the existence of sorcery, but only a few accept that other supernatural powers do exist in the world.
“Imagine just how many people from Kizer’s bloodline must be even in our little continent! Certainly the bloodlines of these men have thinned out immensely over time, but traces of their powers, I believe, can be found in many individuals even today. Over time, Kizer’s and Oga’s bloodlines must have mixed somewhere along the line, creating diverse potentials. Between magic and elementalism, the possibilities are endless! Telekinesis, super speed and strength, who knows?! Maybe there are villages and clans out there who can use direct elementalism and control the elements, as there are sorcerers around even today. The thing is, though these powers can be passed down from parents to children, usually from mother to daughter or father to son, one, two, even three or four consecutive generations might be skipped entirely.”
“I see… So… is Clover’s mother a witch?” Lex asked.
“No, she wasn’t,” Ben replied. He noticed the sudden look of gloom on Clover’s face as he mentioned her mother. Even Kyle’s expression changed for the worse. He looked over at his sister. Lex wondered what was best for him to say.
“But her mother’s mother was a witch,” Ben continued, “my wife… a powerful witch, too! She reached the fifth stage of magic, which is quite a feat… There’s quite a chance Clover is a witch. She would have been the perfect teacher for Clover… but she passed away a year after her granddaughter was born. Witchcraft isn’t a skill that is easily learnt or developed. And Clover’s two years of practice are nothing compared to her grandmother’s eight years before she cast her first spell.”
“EIGHT YEARS?!” Clover blasted, her eyes almost popping out of her head, “You didn’t tell me that!”
“… I’m not so confident about Kyle having any superhuman skills embedded in him, though,” Ben said almost reluctantly.
“Whatever,” Kyle hissed, “it’s all nonsense, anyway!”
“But his rapid development in the art of the sword will probably make up for that,” the old man consoled, smiling. Kyle couldn’t help laughing a little.
“My father, Itarato, was one of the most powerful swordsmen in all of Libson!” Kyle boasted. “He was feared even by the lawmen, even by the then King Aragan of Magma Town.”
A look of
excitement and confusion wrinkled Lex’s face a bit.
Ben laughed. “Fret not, you’ll learn all you need to in time.”
“So when do we begin training?!” the excited blue-eyed boy inquired.
“In but a short time,” Ben answered, secretly even more excited about training Lex than the boy himself. “Kyle, show Lex to his quarters. I’ll soon be back.” With that, Ben left the house. Lex glanced over to a familiar door – the door to the room he remembered waking in.
“Oh, that’s Ben’s room. I’ll show you ours.” The very thought of sharing a room with a boy around his age excited him. He had no siblings, and he’d never had a sleepover or been camping. His life until this strange dream had been quite smothered. Kyle walked Lex over to another door. Lex entered the room quickly. There were three small, neatly spread beds.
So I’ll be sharing room with *her* too? His heart suddenly began pounding hard at the thought of it.
“Cool!” a cased sword laying under the bed closest to the door distracted him from his previous thoughts, which probably nearly got him a little too excited anyway. Kyle jumped before Lex and grabbed up the scabbard, drawing the sword from it proudly. A beam of sunlight hit it and bounced off beautifully. The boy held it perfectly vertically, his arms fidgeting a bit under the weight. Clover jumped back in fright on entering the room.
“Hail the power and might of Kyle Khariaki Bengushi!” the boy declared. Lex’s eyes glistened in great excitement.
“Come on! Put that thing away!” Clover exclaimed, sounding nervous and annoyed. Kyle laughed, then brought the sword from its erect position and handed it to Lex like he would become his master and teacher. Lex grabbed the sword eagerly. His left hand rushed to the rescue as the sword was many times heavier than he had anticipated. Kyle laughed, expecting such a reaction, then grabbed the sword from Lex.
“Watch this!” the boy went to a far corner of the room and flashed the blade about swiftly and seemingly skilfully, the sunlight flicking off the sword embroidering the beauty of his swordplay. Clover rolled her eyes and sighed.
The Seventh Spirit Page 2
